Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Shootings In Boston

Mayor Menino seems pretty pleased with the way things are going on the gun-violence front, and certainly we should be grateful for the relatively low body count in 2007, of 66 homicides after two years in the mid-70s.

But let's not kid ourselves. Certainly not when, barely two weeks into the year, four young men, ages 16, 18, 20, and 23, have already been shot dead in Boston. [Update: a fifth was shot to death this afternoon, described at this point only as between 17 and 23.]

Here are the figures I have, year-by-year, for the number of people younger than 25 killed by gunshots in Boston:

2007: 35
2006: 37
2005: 28
2004: 29
2003: 13
2002: 21
2001: 21
2000: 15

And here's the annual total number of people shot in Boston, fatal or non-fatal:

2007: 324
2006: 377
2005: 341
2004: 268
2003: 177
2002: 179
2001: 222
2000: 162

Some parts of 2007 were definitely good news; some stretches were bad news. It's far too soon to say that the city has started its climb out of the problem.

1/16/2008 3:51:15 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [2] |

Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:04:51 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Don't look at me. I did my part. I moved out of Boston and took my "arsenal" of "cop-killer", "spray-firing" "assault weapons" with me. Fewer guns in Boston is just what Menino wanted, and he has yet to send me a thank you note.

Bruce

Saturday, January 19, 2008 12:43:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

The MSM, The Globe and The Herald, haven't seen fit to publish these figures. I haven't seen them mentioned on any of the TV news programs. Readers have been at the mercy of their analysis, and that of news service writers in learning of this story. Throughout much of the year, we've been inundated with stories of the gun murders among the youth of Boston, especially in the Dorchester neighborhood. Right after New Year, lo and behold, a news service story, followed by a Globe story tells how the murders are actually down. How does that square with the way they were reported all year long? How does that compare nationally among cities in similar circumstances? Is this a Boston issue, or is this part of a national trend?

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